Both translations are in verse, but they handle line length and register differently. Green's lines are long, often running well past ten syllables, and his diction sits in a formal register that occasionally tips into the technical. His opening "calamitous wrath, which hit the Achaians with countless ills" keeps a slightly elevated tone while sounding modern. Reck's lines are shorter and tighter: "Sing, Goddess, Achilles' maniac rage" lands harder and faster, and "maniac rage" is frankly colloquial where Green's "calamitous wrath" is more measured. In the leaves passage, Green writes "some leaves the wind scatters earthwards," which is plain and close to the Greek word order. Reck gives "wind spins them to the ground," where "spins" is more physical. The rhythmic difference is consistent: Reck's lines move in shorter bursts, Green's in longer, more deliberate units. Green's translation shows evidence of close attention to the Greek. His Achilles speech in Book 9 includes "two contrary spirits go with me until the end that's death," which tracks the Greek's awkward doubling with care. Reck at the same passage writes "two separate fates are leading me toward death," which is cleaner to read but loses some of the Greek's odd, compressed phrasing. In Book 21, Green's Achilles says "Yet over me too hang death and all-mastering destiny," matching the Greek's two-part construction. Reck cuts to "but I am doomed to die as well as you," which is direct and immediate on the page but drops the formal pairing. Green appears to prioritize fidelity to the Greek's structure; Reck appears to prioritize pace and clarity for a reading audience.
Wrath, goddess, sing of Achilles Pēleus's son's
calamitous wrath, which hit the Achaians with countless ills—
many the valiant souls it saw off down to Hādēs,
souls of heroes, their selves1 left as carrion for dogs
and all birds of prey, and the plan of Zeus was fulfilled
from the first moment those two men parted in fury,
Atreus's son, king of men, and the godlike Achilles.
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' maniac rage:
ruinous thing! it roused a thousand sorrows
and hurled many souls of mighty warriors
to Hades, made their bodies food for dogs
and carrion birds—as Zeus's will foredoomed—
from the time relentless strife came between
Atreus' son, a king, and brave Achilles.